﻿"Roger Snell has made an important contribution to the history and literature of our national pastime."﻿ --Michael F. Curtin, Associate Publisher Emeritus, The Columbus Dispatch

It’s spring 1929 at the Chicago Cubs’ training camp on California’s Catalina Island, and Middletown-born pitcher Charlie Root is doing all he can to mask the pain he’s feeling in his throwing arm.

One night his daughter saw her dad crying from the pain. It was the first time she’d ever seen him break down like that.

In the book “Root for the Cubs: Charlie Root & the 1929 Chicago Cubs,” author Roger Snell tells about Root and how his family helped him regain his big league pitching form as the Cubs battled their way to the 1929 World Series.

“I really hope people catch on and realize that this is more than a baseball book,” Snell said. “It’s a love story between a ballplayer and his family.” -- John Bombatch, Middletown News Journal, April 4, 2009.